Prepping for Halloween

Well, its getting to be that time, HALLOWEEN!

So my son wanted to dress my first grandchild up for Halloween.  They were going to dress her as t bumblebee!  A bumblebee, of all things!

Grandma to the rescue!  No way is my first grandchild going to be a Bumble bee!  Why not a Mama kangaroo with a baby in her pouch!   So Simplicity 8765 to the rescue!

This is close to a onesie!  It’s got a hoodie! (This works wonders for the cold climate they live in).  And then finally the baby roo!!!

So off I went to JoAnn’s fabric, to get some “plush” fleece at 1/2 off (plus 20% coupon).  All total the materials only came to $14!

I did decide to make an alteration to the pattern.  I decided to put a draw string in the hoodie, so they don’t have to worry about a hat for her, and it won’t slide off.

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Of course I made it a size larger than needed (so she can wear her clothing underneath and have some “growing room”, in case they want to use it again.

It only took about 4 hours to make.

When I was making baby roo, I forgot to fold the ears before sewing them in.  So the fun about sewing is that its easy to recover.  No, I didn’t grab the seam ripper, no way was I picking this little fella apart.  Instead, I took needle and thread and hand-stitched a fold in the ears.

Baby Roo with out folded ears

Baby Roo with hand-stitched ears

Finally, I decided we needed to make sure “baby roo” was safe and didn’t fall out of her pouch, so I added a seatbelt!

I'm going to hand-stitch around the eyes/nose to ensure everything stays put.

Here's the almost complete outfit!

Vogue 2067 Donna Karan

I've had this pattern in my stash for quite some time.  Last year before my sewing mentor passed away she helped me alter the pattern (you'll see why in the pictures).

I decided to make View B.  I did my initial alteration of widening thru the hip.  Here is a picture of the initial dress I made in a grey knit:

Front View.

This is the front view of the dress.  I got the fit down pretty good.  Of course I forgot to lengthen this, so it placed it at just below my knee.

Side View

However, when I looked at the side; this was just way-y too low in the arm and back area.  There was no way I could wear a bra with this (not even a strapless one).  Besides I'm not into showing that much of my back and sides.  

So my first job was to alter the dress in those areas, that means bringing up the side and back.  The key thing was to alter the side and back pieces correctly since the side seem is actually along the back:

As you can see from the line drawing the dress is cut pretty low in the back.  So off to do my alterations I went.  The pattern pieces for the dress are circled.

The side and back pieces was alter as shown on the picture; the light blue line represents the original pattern:

Back

Side

So I re-made the dress with these alterations in a black knit:

 Here is an image from the side, so you can see how much I raised the side.

The back has been raised considerably (now I can wear a strapless bra with it). And finally the front view:

Needless to say it lengthened it. Although it looks floor length on my dress form, its just above the ankle on me.  This dress was more comfortable for me to wear.  I still wear the first dress; but as a jumper with a t-shirt.

As I look at this dress on the dress form; I think my next project will be to alter it to my size.

Also, I made the dress a third time in a brown knit.

Happy Sewing!

My “NEW” old iron!

As every “extreme” seamstress knows, “It’s all about the pressing!!!”.
Pressing can make the difference between a garment lookin professional or home-made.

Like anyone that does a lot of sewing,  I had to have an iron that generates a LOT of heat and steam.
But I needed something I could use when I traveled.  I tried one of the newer traveling but was never pleased with the heat they generated.

So one day I was at the thrift store, and guess what I saw!  A smaller version of those heavy metal irons that your mom used to have.  A GE travel iron!

The iron cost only $5, and works like a charm!  I’ve had it now for a couple of years.

I didn’t have anything to carry it in, other than the flimsy little pouch that came with it.

So I found this amazing pattern: “Caddy Pad” at my local quilt shop

This pattern is a carrier and pressing pad.

Here are pictures of the finished product:

Happy Sewing!

If at first.....

So I decided I wanted to make Simplicity 8641.  As you can see from my project sheet, I chose a striped denim chambray.

I had this wonderful notion that I shouldn't have to do any alterations, since the dress didn't appear to have any shape.  Well, I was almost right.  The operative word being "almost".  Turns out the dress fit, but was snugger through the hips than I am comfortable with.  This is why I always try to make a muslin first, to avoid these types of disappointments.  The finished jumper turned out very nice thought: 

I was so pleased with how it turned out;  but disappointed that it was too snug through the hips.

So, this is why you should make a muslin or at least do a little extra in the seam allowance to allow for adjustments.

So I decided to remake the jumper.  I had another piece of fabric that I got from the thrift store (I buy fabrics from the thrift store to use for creating muslins of my garments).  I had 3 yard piece of a red chambray:

Needless to say this version turned out to be an excellent fit.  I ended up making the back skirt a size larger (I cut the upper bodice and front a size 16, and the back a size 18), and added a 1 inch seam allowance just in case.  This muslin will become a wearable one.

It is a very comfortable dress, and I will definitely make it again.  I have another dark blue stripe chambray, so I'll give it another try.

I thought about making myself fit the original (aka diet); but remember the purpose of sewing is to make the dress fit your body; not your body fit the dress!

Happy Sewing!

My Adidas Dress - Completed

So maybe you remember this post: The Adidas Dress - My Version, from a couple of weeks back.

The dress is finally completed!

The sleeves are 3/4 length and the dress is mid-calf length on me.  The only additional alteration I had to make is in the hip area. 

I decided not to add an embroidered logo on the dress.  I just couldn't find one that really stood out.

So here is the completed dress:

I love the dress and its an excellent fit!  I've got a fuschia colored knit that I am going to make the dress in.  Haven't decided if I want to add stripes or not.

Organizing My Pattern Stash & Burda Magazines

So I thought I'd refresh you on how I organize my pattern stash and Burda Magazines.

Pattern Stash: 

I have 2 Pattern Sewing cabinets that I purchased from Craigslist (I got lucky and found them within driving distance of my home).  They are stored in the cabinets by company and number.

Next came the question of how to track them. 

Several years ago I started using Microsoft Onenote.  I have access to it thru my Office 365 access, and there are apps available for Onenote for the Ipad and Iphone. 

I store the front and back covers of my patterns in one note in a folder for each pattern company.  For most of the information I can do a cut and paste from the pattern company websites:

All of my patterns are stored on the cloud, which means that I can access my pattern information on any of my mobile devices.  I've been using this method of recording my pattern stash for over 8 years now, and love it!  As I purchase a pattern, I add it to my OneNote database.  I organize my patterns by Company and pattern number.  I can't tell you how many times having access to my patterns have saved me from buying duplicate patterns!

Photos from Iphone: 

 

Also I can write additional information on the one-note entry as to alterations made, thoughts, etc.  It took a while for me to input all my patterns; but I have not regretted it!

Burda Magazines:

With respect to my Burda magazines, I track those using the "Burda Navigator" application.  (It can be found at: Burda Navigator GitHub ).  Just select the Burdanavigator.zip file and extract the content.

Select the "burdanavigator.html" file from the files you extracted.  This will open a browser window: 

When you first open the file; the menu's are "non-english".

To change the language select the first icon (the triangle looking icon) and set your language to english).

After that you can select the first icon to get a list of magazines.  Currently the magazines go back to 2010. With each update the developer is adding an additional year and the current issue. Updates are done on a monthly basis, within 2 weeks of the release of the latest issue.

The third ICON (with the headshot on it) you can see the photos for all of the patterns in a specific issue issue: 

The icon with the compass on it; shows the line drawings for the patterns in an issue.

If you select an image from either of these windows (photo or line-drawing) you will get a full image of the pattern: 

Its relatively simple to use.  There is also a filtering option to allow me to search the magazines.  This has been a blessing for me; as I have magazines going back to 2000.  I don't have to sit and search through my magazines looking for a pattern.

Happy Sewing!

Sandy

The Burda Mag Search

As I say, I’ve been doing quite a bit of planning since I had my back surgery.  That and serving the internet!

I came across a top from Style Pantry:

Asymmetric Front Button Blouse from Stylepantry.com

I am finding that I really love Folake’s sense of style.  When I saw this I just had to make it to get the fit that I want (needless to say I am no were near as small as she).

So I remembered a Burda Magazine pattern that looked very similar:

It will only require a minor tweak with respect to the sleeves, lengthen it, and add a side tie.

Of course when I went to look in my stash of Burda magazines, I didn’t have this issue! Over 20 years in my Burda stockpile and I didn’t have this one!

Anyway, I found a copy of the issue on Ebay in German!  No problem, but what I did discovered is that in the German magazines, the patterns were in a separate magazine (The US version you have to remove them from the center of the original magazine):

As for my version of the Adidas dress, I’ve got it almost finished.

Just got to add the neckband, finish the sleeves, adjust the it and hem. Then it will b done.  Hoping to get it completed by the end of the week.

Happy Sewing. . .